{"title":"连接动力学与自闭症谱系障碍儿童症状严重程度和认知能力的联系:一项fNIRS研究。","authors":"Conghui Su,Yubin Hu,Yifan Liu,Ningxuan Zhang,Liming Tan,Shuiqun Zhang,Aiwen Yi,Yaqiong Xiao","doi":"10.1523/jneurosci.0161-25.2025","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has emerged as a valuable tool for investigating neurobiological markers in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While previous studies have identified abnormal functional connectivity in ASD children compared to typically developing (TD) peers, brain connectivity dynamics and their associations with autism symptoms and cognitive abilities remain underexplored. We analyzed fNIRS data from 44 children (30 boys, 21 ASD/23 TD) aged 2.08-6.67 years while they viewed a silent cartoon. Using sliding window correlation and k-means clustering, we assessed group differences in dynamic connectivity and the correlations with symptom severity and cognitive performance. Our results revealed that children with ASD showed reduced dwell time in a specific brain state and fewer state transitions compared to TD children. These atypical brain state patterns were negatively correlated with autism symptom severity and positively correlated with adaptive behavior and cognitive performance across participants. Mediation analysis revealed that adaptive behavior fully mediated the relationship between brain dynamics and cognitive performance. Furthermore, dynamic connectivity features achieved 74.4% accuracy in distinguishing ASD from TD children. Importantly, the link between brain dynamics and cognitive performance was replicated in an independent TD sample, underscoring the robustness of this finding. Together, these findings highlight altered brain dynamics in young children with ASD and underscore the critical role of adaptive behavior in bridging neural activity and cognitive performance. These insights advance our understanding of neural mechanisms underlying ASD and point to potential pathways for early interventions and clinical applications.Significant statement The brain dynamics and their relationships with symptom severity and cognitive abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain poorly understood. Using dynamic functional connectivity analysis, our study identified distinct brain state patterns in children with ASD. These patterns were associated with both autism symptom severity and cognitive performance. Importantly, adaptive behavior emerged as a crucial mediator between brain dynamics and cognitive function. Our findings provide novel insights into the neural mechanisms of ASD and highlight the critical role of adaptive behavior in formulating future intervention strategies. By linking specific neural dynamics to adaptive behaviors and cognitive abilities, our study enhances our understanding of ASD neurobiology and has the potential to improve outcomes for affected children.","PeriodicalId":50114,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Linking connectivity dynamics to symptom severity and cognitive abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder: An fNIRS study.\",\"authors\":\"Conghui Su,Yubin Hu,Yifan Liu,Ningxuan Zhang,Liming Tan,Shuiqun Zhang,Aiwen Yi,Yaqiong Xiao\",\"doi\":\"10.1523/jneurosci.0161-25.2025\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has emerged as a valuable tool for investigating neurobiological markers in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While previous studies have identified abnormal functional connectivity in ASD children compared to typically developing (TD) peers, brain connectivity dynamics and their associations with autism symptoms and cognitive abilities remain underexplored. We analyzed fNIRS data from 44 children (30 boys, 21 ASD/23 TD) aged 2.08-6.67 years while they viewed a silent cartoon. Using sliding window correlation and k-means clustering, we assessed group differences in dynamic connectivity and the correlations with symptom severity and cognitive performance. Our results revealed that children with ASD showed reduced dwell time in a specific brain state and fewer state transitions compared to TD children. These atypical brain state patterns were negatively correlated with autism symptom severity and positively correlated with adaptive behavior and cognitive performance across participants. Mediation analysis revealed that adaptive behavior fully mediated the relationship between brain dynamics and cognitive performance. Furthermore, dynamic connectivity features achieved 74.4% accuracy in distinguishing ASD from TD children. Importantly, the link between brain dynamics and cognitive performance was replicated in an independent TD sample, underscoring the robustness of this finding. Together, these findings highlight altered brain dynamics in young children with ASD and underscore the critical role of adaptive behavior in bridging neural activity and cognitive performance. These insights advance our understanding of neural mechanisms underlying ASD and point to potential pathways for early interventions and clinical applications.Significant statement The brain dynamics and their relationships with symptom severity and cognitive abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain poorly understood. Using dynamic functional connectivity analysis, our study identified distinct brain state patterns in children with ASD. These patterns were associated with both autism symptom severity and cognitive performance. Importantly, adaptive behavior emerged as a crucial mediator between brain dynamics and cognitive function. Our findings provide novel insights into the neural mechanisms of ASD and highlight the critical role of adaptive behavior in formulating future intervention strategies. By linking specific neural dynamics to adaptive behaviors and cognitive abilities, our study enhances our understanding of ASD neurobiology and has the potential to improve outcomes for affected children.\",\"PeriodicalId\":50114,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Journal of Neuroscience\",\"volume\":\"17 1\",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":4.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-09-26\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Journal of Neuroscience\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.0161-25.2025\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"NEUROSCIENCES\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Neuroscience","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.0161-25.2025","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NEUROSCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Linking connectivity dynamics to symptom severity and cognitive abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder: An fNIRS study.
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has emerged as a valuable tool for investigating neurobiological markers in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While previous studies have identified abnormal functional connectivity in ASD children compared to typically developing (TD) peers, brain connectivity dynamics and their associations with autism symptoms and cognitive abilities remain underexplored. We analyzed fNIRS data from 44 children (30 boys, 21 ASD/23 TD) aged 2.08-6.67 years while they viewed a silent cartoon. Using sliding window correlation and k-means clustering, we assessed group differences in dynamic connectivity and the correlations with symptom severity and cognitive performance. Our results revealed that children with ASD showed reduced dwell time in a specific brain state and fewer state transitions compared to TD children. These atypical brain state patterns were negatively correlated with autism symptom severity and positively correlated with adaptive behavior and cognitive performance across participants. Mediation analysis revealed that adaptive behavior fully mediated the relationship between brain dynamics and cognitive performance. Furthermore, dynamic connectivity features achieved 74.4% accuracy in distinguishing ASD from TD children. Importantly, the link between brain dynamics and cognitive performance was replicated in an independent TD sample, underscoring the robustness of this finding. Together, these findings highlight altered brain dynamics in young children with ASD and underscore the critical role of adaptive behavior in bridging neural activity and cognitive performance. These insights advance our understanding of neural mechanisms underlying ASD and point to potential pathways for early interventions and clinical applications.Significant statement The brain dynamics and their relationships with symptom severity and cognitive abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain poorly understood. Using dynamic functional connectivity analysis, our study identified distinct brain state patterns in children with ASD. These patterns were associated with both autism symptom severity and cognitive performance. Importantly, adaptive behavior emerged as a crucial mediator between brain dynamics and cognitive function. Our findings provide novel insights into the neural mechanisms of ASD and highlight the critical role of adaptive behavior in formulating future intervention strategies. By linking specific neural dynamics to adaptive behaviors and cognitive abilities, our study enhances our understanding of ASD neurobiology and has the potential to improve outcomes for affected children.
期刊介绍:
JNeurosci (ISSN 0270-6474) is an official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. It is published weekly by the Society, fifty weeks a year, one volume a year. JNeurosci publishes papers on a broad range of topics of general interest to those working on the nervous system. Authors now have an Open Choice option for their published articles